Throughout much of the industrial revolution, controlling
the means of production represented the surest
way to long-term business growth. And after decades of
social progress and innovation, the focus shifted towards having
a skilled (and happy) workforce. But in recent years, an
entirely new trend has emerged – one in which end-users have a
much greater voice in developing new products and services for
the marketplace.

This tendency extends well beyond focus groups and polls designed
to assess market needs. Rather, the goal is to create a
platform in
which collaboration replaces
traditional, one-way feedback. When you give local
communities a voice, they become invested in your success – a
concept that resonates strongly with us given the urgency of our
mission to green the planet.

Re-Nuble’s Strategy 1: Crowdsourcing Our Way to a Better World

We actively engage community partners (businesses, politicians,
citizens, civic organizations, etc.) to determine exactly what
they’re needs are and how best to position our services.

What we’ve learned so far?

There’s growing interest in healthier, more transparent food
production (i.e. no genetically modified products and no
petro-chemicals). Prop 37 in California probably best
exemplifies this push, but the movement has spread to every
corner of the country.

Average people across the country increasingly want greener
sources of energy – not simply election promises or big ideas –
but actual (and affordable) access to renewable power at the
local level.

Despite some political efforts to make it otherwise, “green”
is not a dirty word. There’s a growing belief that
sustainability, economic growth, and social equality are strongly
correlated.

It was through discussions like these that we essentially
“crowdsourced” our entire business model to find unmet market
needs and untapped resources.

For example, many companies regard “waste disposal” as a
significant problem – an expense. But through our talks
with local businesses, we realized that when managed properly,
“waste” actually represents a profitable resource – one that
could be converted into organic fertilizer, alternative energy,
and most important, new green jobs.

This realization was only possible because we tapped into one of
the richest resources at our disposal – the
local communities that we serve. Had we relied on our own
intuition, we would have overlooked this opportunity entirely.

Not surprisingly, communication and collaboration are now central
pillars of the Re-Nuble model. We actively engage and share
as we continuously tweak our formula to make Re-Nuble more
responsive to the needs of those we serve.

Re-Nuble’s Strategy 2: Crowdfunding Our Way to a Green Planet

Based on the encouraging success of this approach to collective
action and community inclusion, we decided to launch
a crowdfunding campaign with IndieGoGo.com to help us raise start-up
capital.

Check out our new crowdfunding slideshow:

We’re certainly open to traditional financing strategies (i.e.
angel investors or social impact investment funds). But
this multi-stakeholder approach is more in line with our general
attitude towards fixing the problems of the world. Shared
ownership is a vital component of Re-Nuble’s mission – everyone
is affected by global environmental challenges, and thus,
everyone should have a role in developing solutions – even if
it’s simply donating $1.

We thought this was a novel concept, until we read a recent
article in CleanTechnica about crowdfunding’s
growing importance in clean energy development. Government,
private investors, and Wall Street can (and should) help, but
their commitments to green causes are not always certain.
What is certain, however, is people’s
individual commitment to eating safer foods, breathing cleaner
air, and passing on a cleaner planet to future generations.

If you feel like we feel, please join us in our mission by doing
one or all of the following:

Visit our crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo.com and make a small
contribution. Every dollar makes a difference.

Follow us on social media or sign up
for our e-newsletter, and share your own ideas with us so we
can continue making Re-Nuble better and better.

Spread the word – let others know what we’re trying to
do. Share this link with your friends, family, colleagues,
and people on the street (http://www.indiegogo.com/re-nuble).

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